7.11.04

As reported by Simply Appalling, my ponderings yesterday concerning moderate Republicans aren't totally out in left field. Some moderate Republicans with a brain and a heart *are* showing concern. While there will be 55 Republicans in the Senate, some of those Republicans are closer to Democratic ideology than what Republicans are moving towards. Case in point: “Another GOP moderate, Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.), expressed even deeper disappointment, telling the Providence Journal he would not rule out switching to the Democratic Party.” Less than a week after your party just decked the other party, you are talking about the possibility of leaving the victor for the losers? Before these extremists even report for office even. Geesh. You have to wonder if he wanted some of his Republican counterparts to lose. Or if it was a foot in mouth thing. Who knows. But it could be interesting to watch.

The South has been more...overtly racist...than the North, from the days of the civil war to the struggles for civil rights. (Note the emphasis on the word "overt" there...Actually, I got an email from someone telling me that I was intentionally fanning racist flames. Umm...no, racism exists in the world. To pretend otherwise is naive. I refuse to pretend something isn't true because it's easier. For example, let's look at African American Senators: Hiram Revels in 1870; Blanche Bruce in 1874; Edward Brook in 1967 (the first elected by popular vote); and Carol Moseley-Braun in 1992. Oh, and Barack Obama this year. That's five. It's possible I missed someone, but I don't think so. You want to tell me that racism isn't prevelant in our society? I don't even mean the dirty, nasty, awful kind. But I think that a lot of people who would be disgusted by overt racism aren't going to vote for an African American for a high political office, and won't even think that they are discriminatory in any way. (This same argument may also be made for women, though there have been more. Though wasn't 1992 or 1994 the year of woman? What happened to that? We've moved backwards. But I digress.)Where was I? Oh, I was showing my concern that only four Democratic senators in the former Confederacy. With the number of Southern states...it appears that the South finally won the civil war, albeit a little late. They can practically control the US politically. There are 26 southern states. If they elected all Republicans, the Democrats could never have the majority, whether or not the North elected a single Republican or not. This is not to say that the Southern senators are racist at all, but obviously more conservative, resistent to change.

And how is that war thing going? First, as first reported by Maru, a guy who fulfilled his 8 year military commitment in 1996 has been told to report for duty. Obviously, he’s not happy about this. But at least we don’t have a draft. Second, Iraq under martial law. Yikes! We are doing such a wonderful job over there...Finally, brilliant prose from Kash at Angry Bear: "If the left is willing to make it, the moral case for being liberal is strong. Being liberal means having compassion for all people – including and perhaps especially those who cannot fight for themselves. It means recognizing that human society depends fundamentally on the willingness of people to cooperate, and work together, and help each other in times of difficulty. It means having automatic and unwavering respect and tolerance for the opinions and beliefs of others. It means being unflinchingly responsible about what we pass on to our children and to future generations, even if it makes things more difficult for us personally. Most generally, it means putting the concern for the well-being of others on equal footing with the concern for oneself. This is a good, and just, and morally strong belief, deeply grounded in both religious and secular morality, and should be trumpeted by the left instead of glossed over."

This is exacly what we have to do. Not any of the "move center" talk. I refuse to vote for someone who isn't willing to fight for civil rights, who isn't willing to make sure that the minority is treated well, to care about the world that we are leaving our children. I won't appease the part of the country that thinks that the majority should control b/c it's larger. Larger doesn't mean right. I hope that the Democrats will remember this. Don't compromise of *our* values. Just because you are currently outnumbered doesn't mean that you are wrong. It just means that more people disagreed with you. People don't like change; those arguing for progress were oft outnumbered. They didn't give up - neither should we.